US’ scheme to disrupt Beijing Time exposed

CHINAS national security agency revealed on Sunday that the United States National Security Agency has long plotted cyberattacks against the National Time Service Center, which is responsible for generating and maintaining standard Beijing Time.

- CUI JIA

Such attacks could jeopardise the secure and stable operation of Beijing Time, potentially causing network communication failures, financial system disruptions, power outages, transportation paralysis and even space launch failures, according to the latest investigations.

Located in Xian, Shaanxi province, the centre provides high-precision time services crucial for national communications, finance, electricity, transportation, mapping and defence sectors. Besides causing severe disruptions in China, such cyberattacks could lead to international time chaos with incalculable consequences, the agency said in a post on its official WeChat account.

Wei Dong, deputy director of the general office at the centre, said a time discrepancy of just one millisecond can disrupt the sequencing of power substations, leading to widespread blackouts. A difference of one microsecond could result in fluctuations worth billions in international stock markets.